Sole for footwear



June lo, 1947. D, D, GQLQSTEIN 2,421,932

SOLE FOR FOOTWEAR Filed June 12, 1945 A wn @n .osf/// INVENTOR.

BY QJ" WIW/wf Mumia-www2 VIIIIIIIIIIIIII.

A TTORNEY Patented June 10, 1947 SOLE FOR FOOTWEAR David D. Goldstein, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to Allied Manufacturing and. Trading Company,

Pittsburgh, Pa.

Application June 12, 1945, Serial No. 599,055

9 Claims. 1

My invention relates to soles for footwear and has particular reference to soles made of brous materials, such as rafa The main object of my invention is to provide a sole for shoes, boots, sandals, etc. which will be strong and durable, While being inexpensive and ornamental. I have found that a very good material for making such soles is natural raia which is very ilexible and forms soit and flexible soles, possessing good wearing properties.

Another object of my invention is toprovide a sole of relatively large thickness while being light and flexible. I form my sole for this pur pose of dat braids prepared from strands of raia, the braids being tightly wound side by side, forming a thick layer, two or more of such layers being placed one on top of the other to form a sole.

Another object of my invention is to provide a sole of the character described, which is very flexible, particularly in the middle portion, between the heel and the toe portions.

Another object of my invention is to provide a sole made of braids so wound that the ends of the braid are concealed Within bends of the adjacent layers so that there are no exposed ends of the braids to become loosened or unraveled.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a sole made of flexible braids and provided with an outer layer of a leather-like material.

My soles are especially suitable for use with the shoes and similar footwear made from raflia braids.

My invention is more fully described in the accompanying specilication and drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a sole made of layers of raia braid, partly in section;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of inner side oi a single layer of the side;

Fig. 4 is a bottom view of the sole with a layer of fabric and Without the outer leather-like layer;

Fig. 5 is a view of a modified sole;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of a mould with the sole.

The sole according to my invention is made of strands of raiiia or similar highly flexible and strong natural fiber. Three strands of such material are used to prepare a flat braid lI, the length of the braid being preferably such as to allow the use of a single piece for a, complete sole or layer of a sole. The thickness of the strands is selected according to the desired thickness of the sole. I prefer to use braids made of three strands interwoven togeth'er as shown because such a braid is relatively tight and strong, does not readily unravel like an ordinary round rope, and can be more conveniently formed into a flat surface for a sole, heel or shoe.

In forming layers of the rafa braid, it is important that the ends of the braids should not be exposed at the edges of the sole since such ends can readily become unraveled and are otherwise objectionable; moreover, it is also desirable to make the sole in such a manner that it should be especially ilexible in the middle portion, to facilitate its lexure in its normal use.

I have found that both these Objects can be obtained by winding the braid in two spirally formed loops as shown in Fig. 2, one loop or spiral being used to form the heel portion 5 of the sole, and the other loop or spiral forming the toe portion 6. One end of the braid, designated 1 is placed for this purpose inside the heel portion, and the braid is wound around the end portion as shown, the adjacent braids abutting each other edgewise so that the thickness of the finished layer is equal to the thickness of one braid. The adjacent layers are stitched together by threads Il, placed in a criss-cross or zig-zag manner on the adjacent braids. The toe portion of the layer is similarly formed, the other end IIJ of the braid being placed inside the toe loop 6. The heel and toe portions are therefore joined together by a single braid at II, the adjacent sides of the heel and toe loops being stitched together at 2. The top and bottom layers I2, I3, Fig. 1 are formed in the same manner, being stitched on the outside and on the inside by strong threads M. To facilitate assembling of the sole, the braid is wound in a mould 24, (Fig. 6) of a suitable contour, and the turns are secured together by pieces of an adhesive tape I5. The layer of the raiiia braid is then removed from the mould and the turns are permanently secured together by stitches 8.

For still greater flexibility, the sole may be made in the form of a zig-zag 23 as shown in Fig. 5.

One of the layers is also provided at its inner side with an edging I6 formed of a single raffia braid, made of relatively thin strands and attached flatwise to the sole layer along its edge as shown in Fig. 3. The ends of the braid I6 are turned inward as shown in Fig. 3. The two layers I2, I3 are stitched together by threads I4, their inner sides being drawn towards each other' so that the outer sides become slightly concave as shown in section at the right in Fig. 1. The edging is preferably made of a different color than the main layers, thereby improving the ornamental appearance of the sole.

The outer sole il, which may be made of leather, rubber composite, or other suitable material, is attached to the lower side of the sole as by cementing, gluing, stitching, or similar method. A layer of a soft fabric i8, shown also in Fig. 4, is placed between the bottom side of the rafa layers and the outer sole Il, the layer I3 being of smaller overall dimensions than the sole I7 so that it fills the concave portion of the bottom raffa sole. This fabric is especially useful for cementing the outer sole lli to the raflla sole, by absorbing a relatively large amount of cement and filling irregularities in the surface of the raflia sole. The layer i8 is attached to the sole by stitches 22, preferably at the same time as the turns of the braid are stitched together. Prior to the stitching, the fabric I3 is temporarily held by suitable pieces of an adhesive tape.

It is evident that the sole layer il can be used with soles consisting of one, two or more layers of raiila braid.

A heel 2li, made of leather or other suitable material, can beI attached to the sole as by nails 9i or by other suitable method.

The sole can be used for shoes, sandals, and slippers which can be also made of raffia or other suitable material.

It will be understood that various features and principles of each of the embodiments of the invention above described or referred to may be utilized or substituted in the other embodiments.

While the invention has been described in detail with respect to certain particular preferred examples, it will be understood by those skilled in the art after understanding the invention, that various changes and further modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, and it is intended therefore in the appendedk claims to cover all such changes and modifications.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. A layer for the sole of footwear formed of a flat braid made of a flexible fibrous material, the braid forming two elongated spirally wound loops, the successive turns of the braid abutting each other by their edges, the sides of the braids forming the outer surfaces of the sole, the ends of the braid being placed in the middle of respective loops.

2. A layer for the sole of footwear formed of a flat braid made of at least three strands of a flexible fibrous material, the braid forming two elongated spirally wound loops, one for the toe portion, the other for the heel portion of the sole, the successive turns of the braid abutting each other by their edges, the edges of the braid being stitched together and forming the outer surfaces of the sole, the ends of the braid being placed inside the respective loops, a single braid connecting the toe and the heel portions.

3. A layer for the sole of footwear formed of a flat braid made of at least three strands of a flexible fibrous material, the braid forming two elongated spirally wound layers, one for the toe portion, the other for the heel portion of the sole, the successive turns. of the braid abutting each other and being stitched together, the ends of the braid being placed inside the respective loops, a single braid connecting the heel and toe portions of the sole.

4. A sole for footwear comprising two main layers, each layer being formed of a flat braid made of three relatively thick strands of a highly flexible fibrous material, the braid being wound side by side and stitched together at the edges; and a single braid made of relatively thin strands of a fibrous material placed flatwise between the two edge portions of two other layers, the three layers being stitched together with the single braid therebetween at the edges and in the central portion.

5. A sole for footwear comprising two main layers, each layer being formed of a flat braid made of three relatively thick strands of a highly ilexible fibrous material, the braid being wound side by side and stitched together at the edges; and a single braid made of relatively thin strands of a fibrous material placed ilatwise between the edge portions of two other layers, the three layers being stitched together with the single braid therebetween at the edges and in the central portion, the single braid being of a different color than the main layers.

6. A sole for footwear comprising two main layers, each layer being formed of a flat braid made of three relatively thick strands of a highly flexible fibrous material, the braid being wound side by side forming two elongated spirally wound loops for the heel and toe portions of the sole, the ends of the braid being placed inside the respective loops, the edges of the abutting turns bein-g stitched together; and a braid strand wound flatwise along the edge portions of one of the layers and attached thereto, the two layers being joined together to form a sole consisting of two layers, the single braid forming an edging between the edges of the two layers.

7. A sole for footwear comprising two main layers, each layer being formed of a flat braid made of three relatively thick strands of a highly flexible brous material, the braid being wound side by side forming two elongated spirally wound loops for the heel and toe portions of the sole, the ends of the braid being placed inside the respective loops, the edges of the abutting turns being stitched together; and a braid strand wound ilatwise along the edge portion of one of the layers and attached thereto, the ends of the braid strand being turned inwards at the junction of the two loops.

8. A sole for footwear comprising two main layers, each layer being formed of a flat braid made of three relatively thick strands of a highly flexible fibrous material, the braid being wound side by side forming two elongated spirally wound loops for the heel and toe portions of the sole, the ends of the braid being placed inside the respective loops, the edges of the abutting turns being stitched together; a braid strand wound flatwise along the edge portion of one of the layers and attached thereto, the two layers being joined together to form a sole consisting of two layers, the single braid forming an edging between the edges of the two layers; a layer of fabric attached to the under side of the sole; and an outer sole made of a leather-like material cemented to the sole over the layer of the fabric.

9. A sole for footwear comprising two main layers, each layer being formed of a flat braid made of three relatively thick strands of a highly flexible fibrous material, the braid being wound side by side forming two elongated spirally wound loopsY for the heel and toe portions of the sole,

the ends of the braid being placed inside the respective loops, the edges of the abutting turns being stitched together; pieces of a pliable sheet material placed under the stitches at the sides of the layers; a braid strand Wound nat/Wise along the edge portion of one of the layers and attached thereto, the two layers being joined together to form a sole consisting of two layers, the single braid forming an edging lbetween the edges of the two layers.

DAVID D. GOLDSTEIN.

REFERENCES CITED 'The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

Number 10 Number UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Gregg Jan. 5, 1943 Welpan Apr. 6, 1943 La Torriente Feb. 17, 1914 Gregg Nov. 7, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain 1906 Great Britain 1915 France Feb. 9, 1931 France Dec. 12, 1932 Germany May 8, 1903 

